Well-drilling apparatus



R. L. BURNS.

WELL DRILLING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.-2, 1920.

1,407,924, Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

' IN VEN TOR. gjaw r gu/ww UNITED STATES ROBERT L. BURNS, OF TAFT, CALIFORNIA.

WELL-DRILLING APPARATUS.

Substitute for application Serial No. 329,595, filed October 9, 1919.

1920. Serial No. 407,769.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT L. BURNS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Iaft, in the county of Kern and State of California, have invented a new and useful Well Drilling Apparatus, of which the followlng is a specification.

My invention relates to the art of drilling and pumping oil wells. In this art it is common practice to use a derrick and to provide at one side of the derrick a steam engine which is utilized to drive various apparatus used in drilling and pumping.

The standard steam engine used in the oil Well fields is provided with a single cylinder, and a single crank and there is therefore considerable liability of its being stopped on center from which position it cannot be started by the admission of steam to the cylinder. When this occurs it is necessary for the operator to walk back from the derrick to the engine and to pull the engine over by hand usually by standing on the fly wheel. Skillful operators can reduce this stopping on center to a minimum but even with a great deal of care it is still found to occur at times.

The object of my invention is to provide means by which the operator can pull the steam engine off center without leaving the floor of the derrick. The present method of throwing the engine over by standing on the fly wheel is very dangerous and accidents often occur due to the fact that the engine starts suddenly catching the operator and very often injuring him.

A still further object of my invention is to provide means by which the operator can pull the engine off center without danger to himself.

Further objects and advantages will be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings which are for illustrative purposes only.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a derrick with my invention installed therein.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation on a somewhat larger scale showing a fly wheel embodying my invention. d Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the slide and Fig. 4 is a plan view of same.

In the drawings 1 is a derrick having a fioor 2 upon which the operators work while the drilling operations are carried on. L0-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

This application filed September 2,

cated in a house 3 at one side of the derrick 1 is an engine 4 provided with a fly wheel 5 which drives a beam 6, a bull wheel 7 and the various other mechanisms not shown utilized in the standard method of well drilling. The engine 4 being of the standard type has a single cylinder, a single piston, a single connecting rod and a single crank. Whenever the engine stops with a crank on the center line of the'piston, the engine is said to be on center and it cannot be started by the introduction of steam thereto. For the purpose of starting it, I provide a base plate 8 which is secured directly below the fly wheel 5. The base plate 8 is equipped with a slide 9 which is normally held to the extreme left as viewed in the drawings by means of a tension spring 10. A cable 11 is secured to the other end of the slide 9, this cable being carried out through the house 3 to a point where it can be readily manipulated by means of a handle 12 provided for this purpose. Pivoted on a pin 13 in the slide 9 is a ratchet pawl or dog 14 which is held in its upper position by a spring 15. When held in this position the pawl is in a plane that cuts through the ratchet teeth 16, when the fly wheel is on dead center, so that it engages the ratchet teeth 16 spaced on said fly wheel at the lowest point of the same when the engine 4 is on center.

When the engine stops on center the operator seizes the handle "12 and pulls the same toward the right as viewed in the drawings, thus pulling the slide 9 along the base 8, the dog or pawl 14 thereby engaging the ratchet teeth 16 and throwing the fly wheel 5 around in a counter clock-wise direction sufliciently far to pull the engine oil center. Whenever the operator releases the handle 12 the spring 10 pulls the slide 9 back to its initial position.

It will be noted that the base 8 is sufliciently long so that the dog 14 remains out of contact with the ratchet teeth 16 during the normal operation of the engine 4 and the dog 14 only, engages the ratchet teeth 16 when the slide 9 is actuated as desired to move the engine 4 ofi center. In operation my mechanism prevents the pawl 14 from rubbing on the fly wheel 5 during the normal operation of the engine 4 in the manner thus indicated.

From the foregoing, it will be understood that the apparatus is exceedingly simple in construction and operation and that, notwithstanding its simplicity, it is self-setting and can be operated with ease at a considerable distance away, as is practically necessary in the drilling of wells.

I claim: In combination, an engine havinga fly wheel, ratchet teeth on the fly wheel, a slide mounted to move in a straight path, a pawl,

pivoted to the slide, means on the slide yieldingly holding the pawl in positionto engage the ratchet teeth when the slide is moved ROBERT L. BURNS.

/Vitnesses J M. WILLIAMS, B. A. STEERE. 

